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Cog Hill redesign under scrutiny

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LEMONT, Ill. – The three highest ranked players in the field have all complained about some dimension of Cog Hill’s setup this week at the BMW Championship.

No. 1 Tiger Woods doesn’t like the slow and bumpy greens.

No. 2 Phil Mickelson doesn’t like Rees Jones’ redesign.

No. 4 Steve Stricker doesn’t like the configuration of the Jones’ greens, with the fingers and contours creating confounding landing areas.

Stewart Cink said all the player grumbling makes him feel sorry for the Jemsek family, the owners of Cog Hill. The family spent $5 million on the Rees Jones’ redesign before last year’s BMW Championship in hopes of landing the 2017 U.S. Open, but the U.S. Golf Association this summer tabbed Erin Hills, instead. Now, there are this week's player complaints and speculation about the future of the event.

The BMW contract runs through 2012 with next year’s event returning to Cog Hill and the ’12 event scheduled to be played at Crooked Stick. Attendance has suffered since the event was moved from its days as the Western OpenPGA Tour pros.

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Mell, a senior writer, is a 30-year veteran and covers the PGA and LPGA tours for Golf Channel.